Perhaps it is partly psychological, though I am sure that quality plays a part, but my handwriting is much better if I use a nice pen or pencil and paper. For example, when I write with a fountain pen, not only is my writing neater, but it is actually legible. However, from a creativity point of view, my ideas flow better as well if I write as opposed to type, and if my materials are high quality.

My writing set of choice at the moment consists of a nice Moleskine notebook and a lovely Moleskine rollerball pen. Please see the illustration below.

Using this notebook and pen, I wrote the detailed outlines of three articles in the space of six minutes. I’m sure the quality of the materials had something to do with it.

Inconsequential biographical note

I first saw a squared notebook in Santa Monica in 1980. It was love at first sight. Here is one of the few unused pages: